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Frans Nielsen

#81 · Centre · Detroit Red Wings

Born Apr 24, 1984 in Herning, DNK · 6'1", 186 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 87th overall in 2002 by NYI (round 3)

Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2016-17. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Brandon Dubinsky CBJ · 41 P in 80 GP Matt Duchene COL · 41 P in 77 GP James Neal NSH · 41 P in 70 GP Valtteri Filppula PHI · 42 P in 79 GP Patrick Maroon EDM · 42 P in 81 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

020402006-07: 2 points206-072007-08: 3 points32008-09: 33 points3308-092009-10: 38 points382010-11: 44 points4410-112011-12: 47 points472012-13: 29 points2912-132013-14: 58 points582014-15: 43 points4314-152015-16: 52 points522016-17: 41 points4116-172017-18: 33 points332018-19: 35 points3518-192019-20: 9 points92020-21: 6 points620-21

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2006-07 NYI 15 1 1 2 -2 0 16 7 0.13
2007-08 NYI 16 2 1 3 1 0 17 4 0.19
2008-09 NYI 59 9 24 33 -4 18 101 29 0.56 $525K
2009-10 NYI 76 12 26 38 4 6 136 39 0.50 $525K
2010-11 NYI 71 13 31 44 13 38 156 23 0.62 $525K
2011-12 NYI 82 17 30 47 -3 6 133 29 0.57 $525K
2012-13 NYI 48 6 23 29 -3 12 93 23 0.60 $2.75M
2013-14 NYI 80 25 33 58 -11 8 167 39 0.73 $2.75M
2014-15 NYI 78 14 29 43 8 12 157 48 0.55 $2.75M
2015-16 NYI 81 20 32 52 1 12 181 35 0.64 $2.75M
2016-17 DET 79 17 24 41 -19 18 162 64 0.52 $5.25M
2017-18 DET 79 16 17 33 1 14 134 49 0.42 $5.25M
2018-19 DET 72 10 25 35 -7 14 120 79 0.49 $5.25M
2019-20 DET 60 4 5 9 -13 8 86 44 0.15 $5.25M
2020-21 DET 29 1 5 6 -3 0 24 23 0.21 $5.25M
15 seasons Career 925 167 306 473 -37 166 1683 535 0.51

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2012-13 NYI 6 0 2 2 -2 0 16 4 0.33
2014-15 NYI 7 1 1 2 -1 0 11 5 0.29
2015-16 NYI 11 3 3 6 -3 2 26 19 0.55
3 seasons Playoffs 24 4 6 10 -6 2 53 28 0.42

2016-17 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
79 17 24 41 -19 18 162 64 0.52 10.5 17:09

Contract

$5.25MCap hit2016-17
$128KCap dollars per point41 points in 79 games
$1.025MCap dollars per goal above replacement5.1 goals above replacement
$3.8MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$1.4MValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 664 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Who signed him to it, and when, are not on record. When it ends is not known.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
2020-21 to 2020-21 $5.25M
2018-19 to 2021-22 $5.25M
2016-17 to 2017-18 $5.25M
2012-13 to 2015-16 $2.75M
2008-09 to 2011-12 $525K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2016-17 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2016-17 analytics

Rating

+5.1Goals above replacement183rd of 664 skaters, 130th of 435 forwards
+0.9Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+1.4Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 435 ranked forwards: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile.

Even-strength offence+1.2 67th percentileEven-strength defence-0.5 35th percentilePower play0.0 61st percentilePenalty kill-0.3 14th percentilePenalties+1.0 73rd percentile

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater, and the rank beside it is among forwards. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

-50510152010-112012-132014-152016-172018-192020-21Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

49.9Corsi for %858 attempts for, 863 against
+1.8CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
50.6Expected goals for %38.7 expected for, 37.8 against
+2.8xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
49.5Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
43.8Goals for %35 for, 45 against
97.7PDO7.3% shooting + 90.4% saves
187Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

Each share is coloured by where it ranks among the 565 skaters who played enough to be ranked: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile. PDO and attempts taken are left plain, since neither is good or bad on its own.

Who he played with

Forward lineGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Frans Nielsen · Thomas Vanek · Andreas Athanasiou16121:4056.852.110-4
Frans Nielsen · Gustav Nyquist · Dylan Larkin976:5847.841.92-5
Frans Nielsen · Thomas Vanek · Gustav Nyquist1269:0855.660.03-4
Frans Nielsen · Darren Helm · Riley Sheahan968:4447.053.33-6

The lines he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's lines that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

17Goalsnot counting empty-netters
17.3Expected goalsfrom 219 unblocked attempts
-0.3Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.77 expected goals per 60 minutes63rd
Shot quality 7.9% chance per attempt60th
Finishing -0.3 goals above expected52ndOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 421 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

051015Game 20Game 40Game 60Expected 17.3Goals 17

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. Darker red means more attempts from that spot, and each dot is a goal. "Show every shot" switches to a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Apr 9, 2017 vs NJD W 4-1 0 2 2 1 2 1 0 17:08
Apr 8, 2017 vs MTL L 2-3 (OT) 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 16:06
Apr 4, 2017 @ OTT L 0-2 0 0 0 -2 0 1 3 15:04
Apr 3, 2017 vs OTT W 5-4 (SO) 1 0 1 -1 0 3 0 18:26
Apr 1, 2017 vs TOR L 4-5 0 1 1 0 0 7 1 16:48
Mar 30, 2017 @ TBL L 3-5 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 17:12
Mar 28, 2017 @ CAR L 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 18:12
Mar 27, 2017 @ CAR W 4-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 20:46
Mar 26, 2017 vs MIN W 3-2 (OT) 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 15:09
Mar 24, 2017 vs TBL L 1-2 (OT) 0 1 1 -1 0 4 0 19:46
Mar 21, 2017 @ MTL W 2-1 (OT) 0 1 1 0 0 3 1 14:16
Mar 20, 2017 vs BUF L 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 13:10
Mar 18, 2017 vs COL W 5-1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 16:17
Mar 16, 2017 @ ARI W 5-4 (SO) 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 19:42
Mar 15, 2017 @ COL L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 18:12
Mar 12, 2017 vs NYR L 1-4 1 0 1 -1 0 2 1 16:52
Mar 10, 2017 vs CHI W 4-2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 18:08
Mar 8, 2017 @ BOS L 1-6 0 0 0 -1 0 5 1 15:35
Mar 7, 2017 @ TOR L 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 16:49
Mar 4, 2017 @ EDM L 3-4 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 15:48
Mar 3, 2017 @ CGY L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 1 1 17:14
Feb 28, 2017 @ VAN W 3-2 (OT) 2 0 2 1 2 4 0 18:27
Feb 21, 2017 vs NYI L 1-3 0 1 1 0 0 4 2 17:15
Feb 19, 2017 @ PIT W 5-2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 16:54
Feb 18, 2017 vs WSH W 3-2 (SO) 1 0 1 -1 0 3 0 17:02
Feb 15, 2017 vs STL L 0-2 0 0 0 -1 2 1 1 17:06
Feb 12, 2017 @ MIN L 3-6 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 15:36
Feb 11, 2017 @ CBJ L 1-2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 17:54
Feb 3, 2017 vs NYI W 5-4 0 0 0 -1 4 2 0 11:59
Jan 31, 2017 vs NJD L 3-4 0 0 0 -2 0 2 1 15:30
Jan 25, 2017 vs TOR L 0-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 15:25
Jan 24, 2017 @ BOS L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 3 1 20:38
Jan 22, 2017 vs NYR L 0-1 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 17:56
Jan 20, 2017 @ BUF L 2-3 (OT) 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 15:10
Jan 18, 2017 vs BOS W 6-5 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 18:50
Jan 16, 2017 vs MTL W 1-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 16:22
Jan 14, 2017 vs PIT W 6-3 1 0 1 2 0 2 1 16:09
Jan 12, 2017 @ DAL L 2-5 0 0 0 -1 0 3 0 17:22
Jan 10, 2017 @ CHI L 3-4 (OT) 0 1 1 2 0 1 0 15:09
Jan 7, 2017 @ SJS L 3-6 0 2 2 2 2 3 1 16:57
Jan 5, 2017 @ LAK W 4-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 13:02
Jan 4, 2017 @ ANA L 0-2 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 17:01
Jan 1, 2017 @ TOR L 4-5 (OT) 0 0 0 -2 0 3 4 18:04
Dec 29, 2016 @ OTT W 3-2 (OT) 0 1 1 1 0 2 2 20:25
Dec 27, 2016 vs BUF L 3-4 0 0 0 -1 2 4 0 15:28
Dec 23, 2016 @ FLA W 4-3 (SO) 1 0 1 0 0 5 0 19:11
Dec 20, 2016 @ TBL L 1-4 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 18:52
Dec 17, 2016 vs ANA W 6-4 1 0 1 1 0 3 2 17:59
Dec 15, 2016 vs LAK L 1-4 0 0 0 -2 0 1 1 16:45
Dec 13, 2016 vs ARI L 1-4 0 0 0 -1 0 1 2 18:06
Dec 11, 2016 vs PHI L 0-1 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 20:12
Dec 9, 2016 vs CBJ L 1-4 0 1 1 -2 0 3 2 17:51
Dec 6, 2016 @ WPG W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 0 3 0 18:16
Dec 4, 2016 @ NYI W 4-3 (OT) 0 1 1 0 0 3 0 17:21
Dec 3, 2016 @ PIT L 3-5 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 14:23
Dec 1, 2016 vs FLA L 1-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 17:47
Nov 29, 2016 vs DAL W 3-1 0 1 1 -1 0 1 0 16:39
Nov 26, 2016 vs MTL L 1-2 (OT) 0 1 1 -1 0 3 0 17:25
Nov 25, 2016 @ NJD W 5-4 (OT) 2 1 3 2 0 4 1 19:11
Nov 23, 2016 @ BUF W 2-1 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 16:42
Nov 20, 2016 vs CGY L 2-3 0 0 0 -1 0 1 4 18:38
Nov 18, 2016 @ WSH L 0-1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 15:28
Nov 15, 2016 vs TBL L 3-4 1 0 1 1 0 4 1 18:15
Nov 12, 2016 @ MTL L 0-5 0 0 0 -1 0 2 2 18:09
Nov 10, 2016 vs VAN W 3-1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 19:17
Nov 8, 2016 @ PHI W 3-2 (SO) 0 0 0 1 0 4 2 15:01
Nov 6, 2016 vs EDM L 1-2 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 19:16
Nov 4, 2016 vs WPG L 3-5 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 15:07
Nov 2, 2016 @ PHI L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 -2 0 1 0 17:54
Oct 30, 2016 vs FLA L 2-5 0 2 2 -3 0 0 3 17:40
Oct 29, 2016 vs BOS L 0-1 0 0 0 -1 0 3 0 15:25
Oct 27, 2016 @ STL W 2-1 (SO) 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 17:18
Oct 25, 2016 vs CAR W 4-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 17:49
Oct 22, 2016 vs SJS W 3-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18:16
Oct 21, 2016 vs NSH W 5-3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 19:43
Oct 19, 2016 @ NYR W 2-1 0 1 1 0 0 4 0 17:30
Oct 17, 2016 vs OTT W 5-1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 17:52
Oct 15, 2016 @ FLA L 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 15:28
Oct 13, 2016 @ TBL L 4-6 1 1 2 -2 0 2 1 15:34